Use where you are, wherever you find yourself. Take the fear, the anger, the joy, the pain, or whatever you are experiencing and use it. If you are joyful, use that energy to transform the world of others who are in pain. If you are in pain, fear, or anger, use that energy to make things different.
Augustine of Hippo said, “Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.”
Mary, the mother of Jesus, does this. She acknowledges where she is and gives thanks. Then she uses her fear, tapping into its power to march forward and give birth to something great.
This message is excerpted from “This was not on my list” by Susan Sparks in the November/December 2021 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 430 and Moses the Black, monk, martyr, c. 400. Today is the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost.
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